COMPARE · Data as of August 21, 2026
DAL vs ZTO
Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. DAL scored 61.6, ZTO scored 60.6 — DAL leads.
Compare another set
DAL
Delta Air Lines Inc
61.6
$82.41 · $54.2B
Score gap
1.0
DAL leads
ZTO
ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.
60.6
$21.37 · $16.2B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
- CheapestZTO11.2x
- Fastest growthZTO+10.9%
- Strongest balance sheetZTO0.35
- Highest qualityZTO74 / 100
- Largest discount to fair valueDAL-46%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
DAL
stronger →← stronger
ZTO
71
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
74
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
84
66
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
64
ZTO is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
DAL
ZTO
$8.4bB+
FCF
$483mC
+5.2%C+
Rev
+10.9%B
0.68B
D/E
0.35A-
15.1xB+
P/E
11.2xA
—
PEG
1.14B+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
DAL
ZTO
46% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
90% above
~-11%/yr
Growth the price implies10-yr FCF · lower = less priced in
~24%/yr
+81%
1-yr DCF upside
-53%
+86%
5-yr DCF upside
-47%
+94%
10-yr DCF upside
-38%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
DAL
Why this score
- Raising its dividend
- Durable high returns
- Cyclical growth
ZTO
Why this score
- Buying back stock
- Raising its dividend
- Foreign reporter (CNY)
The companies
DALDelta Air Lines Inc
Why now
Airlines · market cap $54.2b. 14% off the 52-week high of $95.68.
Moat
ROE 19% sits above Buffett's preferred 15% threshold — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. $54.2b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
ZTOZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.
Why now
Integrated Freight & Logistics · market cap $16.2b. 18% off the 52-week high of $26.20. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median. 18 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $28.73 (implying +34% upside).
Moat
Net margin 18% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 14% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where DAL and ZTO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 1.0 points in favor of DAL. The widest single difference is Growth, where ZTO leads by 34.3 points.
- GrowthDAL 50.0 · ZTO 84.3ZTO +34.3
- QualityDAL 70.7 · ZTO 74.3ZTO +3.6
- ValueDAL 66.1 · ZTO 64.4level
Pillars run 0–100 against sector peers, so a score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.